Jamuna Yvette Sirker's HELL AND HIGH WATER 4/1-18 (NYC)

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Please click post's title to visit MultiStages website.

AAPEX Interview: Richard Gaffeld of Red Harlem Readers

Nicole Kearney and director Fredric Michaels
in the audience discussion following the reading of her play
AND YA DON'T STOP.

How did The Red Harlem Readers come about?

About 3 years ago Laurence Holder, Cordis Heard and I approached Chander Malik and Peter Sharma, the owners of the Indian Cafe, with an idea of creating an informal setting where actors, writers, musicians and singers could get together on a regular basis to present their works and talent to their friends and the community. Since then we've been joined by Associates Anne Gefell, Jerry Hassett and Ronald Wyche. As Ronald, our regular Host would say, “If it’s around 4 on Sunday at the Indian Café, it’s time for some 'Food for the Mind, Body, and Soul'.”

As far as the naming of the group, according to our neighbor, Yvonne Wakim Dennis (Cherokee / Syrian) RED HARLEM became a joking way, among Indian people who lived here 30-40 yrs. ago, to describe an active and thriving Native American community between 106^th and 110^th, including Morningside Heights. The Red Harlem Readers takes its name from those people who lived and worked in this neighborhood.

What is the mission?

The Red Harlem Readers is “a volunteer organization dedicated to providing a venue for established and emerging writers, actors and musicians; as well as to engage the community in the literary and musical arts through concert readings and performance of plays, poetry, essays, short stories and song. The discussion that follows intends to provide a stimulating atmosphere of networking and further collaboration.”

How are scripts reviewed and selected? What are the criteria?

Well, we choose poetry, short stories, plays, novels, songs and music as well as new and published plays for readings. The events are chosen based on professional quality, subject matter (it’s a family venue), readers needed (7 maximum), and reading time (less than 1 hr., 30 min.), and relevance to the very diverse upper west side community.

On Sundays since May 2007 we’ve presented many writers, composers, actors and musicians, including Robert Anderson, Edward Albee, Samuel Beckett, Brendan Behan, Gha'il Rhodes Benjamin, Michael Bettencourt, Anton Chekov, Charles Dickens, Charles "OyamO" Gordon, Claudia Hayden, Laurence Holder, Gail Wynn Huland-El, Elaine Jackson, David Johnston, Nicole Kearney, Amir Khan, Therese McNally, William Wellington Mackey, Melissa Maxwell, Alphie McCourt, Kannan Menon, Henry D. Miller, Jeanette Sena Muhlmann, Owa, Nicole Pandolfo, Harold Pinter, Lillian Pollack, Sonia Sanchez, Marsha Sheiness, Sheena Bouchét Simmons, Rahul Singh, Leslie Stoller, Alan Stolzer, Candece Tarpley, Henry David Thoreau, John Tobias, Joe Tsujimoto, Cedric Turner, Christa Victoria, Lanford Wilson, Jamal Williams Ronald Wyche and many others.

What is the relationship between Red Harlem Readers and the New York acting and directing community?

We wouldn’t be here every Sunday if not for the need expressed by the authors, actors, directors to hear their work, and express their ideas to a friendly group of friends and community members. The idea for the group came from this simple need. Laurence Holder and I were sitting at a restaurant next door, celebrating our birthdays in February, 2007, and he said he had a play about Franklin D. Roosevelt’s relationship with African Americans before his election as President he wanted me and others to hear. But his living room was too small.

You’ll remember playwrights have been inviting actors and their friends to their house every since they’ve been writing plays. Loften Mitchell, author of Black Drama, Bubbling Brown Sugar, etc., told me as one of my mentors in the ‘80s of reading and rent parties in Harlem in the 40’s and 50’s, attended by Ruby Dee, Ozzie Davis and Romare Bearden. Laurence had been doing the same at his house.

So when Lauence, Cordis and I founded the Red Harlem Readers in Spring, 2007, he was always there with a script, actors and audience at least one Sunday every month. He has developed this network as a playwright since his first play, “JUBA,” was produced by Ellen Stewart in 1978. I met him in 1979 and we worked together at American Folk Theater until 1986 when I produced and directed his one-act MAN with Kirk Kirksey. His play, WHEN THE CHICKENS CAME HOME TO ROOST with Denzel Washington and Kirk Kirksey was produced by Woody King, Jr., at the New Federal Theater. Rome Neal has been performing his one-man show, MONK for years all over the country. I edited 32 of his plays in five volumes that are available at his website, laurenceholder.com.

So it was this need of the playwright that propelled us at first. Ronald Wyche provided a great boost as a playwright and actor to our talent and audience response shortly afterward by a reading of his one-man show, WHY BLACK MEN WEAR SUNGLASSES IN THE DARK, which debuted to a SRO audience at the Indian Café in November, 2007, directed by Melissa Maxwell. In the Fall of 2008 he conceived SISTUHS SPEAKIN’ SONYA SANCHEZ, with Elain Graham, Yaa Asantewa and Jacqueline Gregg reading Sonia Sanchez poems, with Sonia in the audience and coming back to read her own work. He was also leading and developing plays and playwrights from the Uptown Playwright’s Workshop which brought their work to the Café.

We are not producers, we are facilitators, presenters (sometimes creators, actors and directors) in the sense that we read the submissions, keep the schedule, send the promos, print the program, and all that, but we wouldn’t be here almost every Sunday for three years if not for the artist, sometimes AAPEX members from all over the country, including Hawaii, and audience support and networking. We have a mailing list that is used to inform those on it what is happening every week, but if there is any development benefit that occurs, it is from the hard work of the artists involved in the project.

Casting Call (NYC)

“HOMECOMING”

The Hyperion Theatre Project is casting Homecoming, a new play written and directed by Eugene Ashe. Rehearses May/June 2010, runs from June 8-13 at the Roy Arias Theater, in New York City.

Seeking:
Leslie: African-American female, mid to late 30’s, physically fit, pretty but not glamorous, LEAD;
Deena: African-American female, mid to late 30's, not overweight, but not skinny, outgoing, LEAD;
Young Leslie: African-American female, 18-20, strong modern dance skills required;
Hill: African-American male, mid to late 30’s, college professor, an intellectual… but not pompous, LEAD;
Robert: African-American male,18-20, handsome with a 1990’s hip-hop vibe; dreadlocks a plus.

Auditions will be held by appointment only April 20th and 21st. Email submissions only.

Please indicate which role you are submitting for in the subject header of the email.

Email pix and résumés to: Homecomingplay2010@gmail.com

AEA Showcase (approval pending), Equity/Non Equity.

Owa's GOG at Red Harlem Readers 4/11

“Nothing’s more boring than unrequited love”—

Billie Holliday

GOG

A two act play with choral music and movement

Written by Owa

Featuring

Kristen Irby, Michele Fulves, Diane Roberts, George Holmes, Glenn Beatty and Doug Williford

April 11, 2010: Free Reading Series continues at Indian Cafe

The Red Harlem Readers will present a concert reading of GOG, a new play by Owa , directed by Richard Gaffield. In 1954, a celebrated British Secret Services mathematician finds himself embroiled in an illicit romance, threatening to destroy his career and love.

The FREE event will be hosted by the Indian Café at 2791 Broadway, between 107^th and 108^th Streets on Sunday, April 11 at 4:00 with discussion to follow. The weekly reading event includes FREE spice tea. Other food and beverages are also available.

"There is nothing more dangerous than initiating a new order of things" ---- Machiavelli

Jimmy Gary headed to HBO!

Actor Jimmy Gary, who was in the AAPEX reading of BILLIE'S BLUES TONIGHT AT MAMA'S JAM, is headed to HBO! See below.

CITY ROCK IS LIVE! WATCH THE SERIES BEFORE IT GETS TO HBO!!

The next episode of Peter Loffredo's series for television, "CITY ROCK", will be put up in a staged reading at Shetler Studios (244 West 54th Street, 12th Floor, between Broadway & 8th Avenue) in Manhattan on Sunday, April 11 at 4 PM.

After two amazing performances - one of the pilot episode in December, directed by Paul Michael Glaser at the Cherry Lane Theatre, and another, Episode 2: "Shooting Stars," at Shetler Studios last week - we are expanding into a larger theater at Shetler Studios for the next reading, which will be directed by the multi-talented Karen Giordano, who most recently worked as a creative consultant and dramaturge with Lee Daniels on the Academy-Award winning film, "Precious."

"RIDIN' THAT TRAIN" is the third episode in the City Rock series, a show that takes us inside life on the streets of New York City as it was in the early 1980's, a major time of transition, both in our city and in the country at large, a time that still is having ramifications for us all today.

So, put on your Swatches, Jellie shoes or Gucci loafers, your Ra-Ra skirts, leg warmers or Members Only jackets, and, of course, your Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses, and come enter the world of City Rock, as we present Episode Three: “RIDIN' THAT TRAIN.”

For more information, contact Peter Loffredo at: fpliving@aol.com. And see a slide show of the original City Rock members at: http://fullpermissionwriting.blogspot.com/

Please click post's title to visit Jimmy Gary's website.

Production Scripts Now Linked with UK Magazine

Production Scripts have teamed up with Amateur Stage Magazine. AS Magazine was established in 1946. The mag is published monthly and is the UK's only independent magazine for community theatre. It boasts around 20,000 readers a month. AS Magazine will be reviewing two to four scripts presented to them by us each month for each forthcoming issue. Any script submitted through us will automatically be considered for shortlist but ultimately we will base our decision against certain criteria which are:- Uniqueness, Quality of Script Formatting, Public / Seasonal Trend and View Rankings within PS. We will try to spread the shortlist across as many writers as we can over time. The first four scripts shortlisted for review in AS Magazines April issue will be announced within the next few days through our blog, our social networking pages, and the Scrolling announcer in Writers Portal, so be sure to keep an eye out. Oh, and in case you miss the review, Production Scripts will scan a copy and email it to the writer so that a copy may be kept.

AAPEX encourages all playwrights to get their scripts listed with Production Scripts ASAP. Format, Publish, and maybe get read in AS Magazine NOW! You can find a link to PS in the AAPEX Resources section on the right or you can just click the post's title.

Red Harlem Readers

Call for Papers: Black Theatre Network's 24th Annual Conference (Deadline 3/31)

Black Theatre Network’s 24th Annual Conference
CALL FOR PAPERS

“(Em)powering the Profession: Best Practices in Black Theatre and Performance”
July 30 – August 2, 2010
Los Angeles, California
Wilshire Plaza Hotel

As educational systems across the country devise new ways to engage learners and withstand the Recession, new spaces are created for regular engagement with the arts. Instructors continue to view their work as “artistic” and the study of the arts as “fundamental to education” despite increasing class sizes and decreasing theatre production budgets. Likewise, theatres and actors are increasingly seeking new ways to invigorate the profession, audiences, and the theater community by their involvement backstage, onstage, and in terms of production. The multicultural theatre of Hip Hop, and the re-visioned history of August Wilson, Suzan-Lori Parks, and Lynn Nottage, for instance, are important tools for re-learning, renewing, and re-invigorating our artistic and classroom practices.

This conference invites the sharing of Best Practices to empower our artistic, economic, and educational engines. The BTN encourages panels, workshops, projects, and interdisciplinary papers that contemplate strategies for the survival of Black Theatre into the next generation. Proposals may broadly interpret the conference theme along (but not confined to) the following strands:
· Reshaping identity and performance on stage
· New Images in Theatre in the 21st Century and Beyond
· Cyber-Power/ Cyber-Practices
· Redefining the Power of Black Theatre
· Teaching Dramatic Literature that Engages Young People and Provides an Authentic Assessment
· Skills Building for the Next Generation of Artist Practitioners
· The Multicultural Theatre of HipHop
· Empowering Social and Creative Change
· Effective Models for Acting, Directing, Design, and Tech
· Effective Production Strategies during a Recession
· Black Theatre History as a Tool to Build Inclusive Classrooms and Curricula
· Emerging Models for Teaching Plays
· Powerful Partnerships in the Profession and the Academy
At the center of this conference is YOU. In times of few resources and limited artistic opportunities, the BTN anticipates that conference participants will find renewal in the communal sharing of scholarship that engages and practices that work.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE & DETAILS
Please submit an abstract of your paper, panel, or workshop (400 words or fewer) by March 31, 2010, to Dr. La Tanya L. Reese Rogers, Conference Committee Chair, at LReese@udc.edu for consideration.
Include in your abstract: your name; co-presenter’s name; full contact information, including phone number and e-mail address; institutional or theatre affiliation (graduate students should identify themselves to receive benefits); the title of the proposed presentation; room set-up requirements (if offering a workshop or lecture); A-V equipment needs; special needs, if any; and length of session (if offering a workshop). At the conference, all papers should be limited to 15 minutes.

Proposals and abstracts should be received on or before March 31, 2010. Accepted presenters will be notified by April 7, 2010. Submissions postmarked after the notification date will be considered for substitutions. All presenters are expected to register for the conference by June 30, 2010. Check the website for details by clicking the post's title.

Alternately, mail abstracts to:
Dr. La Tanya L. Reese Rogers
Black Theatre Network Conference Committee Chair
University of the District of Columbia: Department of English
4200 Connecticut Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20008

Direct other questions about the conference to the on-site coordinators:
Prof. Kathryn Ervin [kervin@csusb. edu]
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Prof. Andre Harrington [aharring@csusb. edu]

AAPEX Interview: Dave Chattam

Waiting for WAITING FOR GODOT

One of the most important and challenging plays of the 20th Century is Samuel Beckett's WAITING FOR GODOT. Born in Ireland in 1906, Beckett found his way to Paris during the early years of his academic career, where he met and became student, assistant and friend of fellow Irish writer James Joyce and a participant in the pre WWII European literary community.

WAITING FOR GODOT was written in 1948-49 in the wake of the second world war, when many writers and artists were convulsing from the devastation of the war in a world which no longer made sense to many. Becket and WAITING FOR GODOT spearheaded what renowned theatrical philosopher Martin Esslin christened The Theatre of The Absurd; in the play, two pals, Vladimir & Estragon, kill time while waiting for someone named Godot, who never shows and who may, in what suddenly appeared to be a godless universe, be God or not-God. The dialogue between the two is indeed absurd, a string of ramblings, non-sequiturs and exclamatory outbursts of existential angst.

Seriously, the roles in WAITING FOR GODOT have got to be among the most daunting any actor can face, and Nashville actor Dave Chattam is about to tackle the role of Vladimir in the Amun Ra production of the play, which opens here in Nashville towards the end of April. I asked Dave to share with us his journey as an actor which has brought him to this challenge.

Jaz

What role did theatre and the arts play in your childhood and upbringing?

Not much at all. My only memories of acting of any kind as a kid are of playing one of the Wise Men in a 4th grade Christmas play (I remember using one of my mother’s jewelry boxes as my gift to the baby Jesus) and of portraying my grandfather in an Easter play at my church when I was about 12 or 13. That’s pretty much it. I grew up around music more than anything. My dad was the youth choir director at our church and he also played the piano. He wanted me to play the drums for our church, so I joined the school band in the 7th grade. After one year of lugging that drum to and from school every day (even though it was only about a mile walk) I gave it up. I also took piano lessons as a youth for a couple of weeks before giving that up too. Of course now I wish I could play both instruments. I began playing basketball my sophomore year of high school, and that’s were I focused all of my time and energy throughout high school and on into college. I do remember joining the drama club in high school for reasons I don’t know, but as with the drums and piano, I soon gave that up. I also thought about trying out for my senior class play, ‘West Side Story’, but singing is not one of my strong points, and I knew that I would only be used behind the scenes, so that dream was short lived. If you told me back in 1986 that 20 years later I would be pursuing acting as a full time career, I would have laughed in your face… seriously!

Tell us about your own evolution as an artist.

First of all, I am very much STILL evolving as an artist. I have only been acting for about nine years now, so I still consider myself a rookie in the game. I started acting purely by chance, and the grace of God. Back in 2001, when the DreamWorks film “The Last Castle” was being shot here in Nashville, TN. I signed up to be an extra at the urging of one of my co-workers. The very first day on the set, I guess I was just in the right place and the right time, and was bumped up to a Principal role. I suddenly found myself working with James Gandolfini and Delroy Lindo. Even though 99% of what I filmed got cut, I had been bitten by the acting bug. A few months later I signed with The Hurd Agency Modeling and Acting Troupe, and with the urging of the owner, Terrance Hurd, began taking acting classes. My first class was and adult acting class with the Nashville Metro Park Association. The class was instructed by a wonderful actor/director by the name of Stella Reed-Patterson. I remember walking onto the stage of the theatre in the Looby Center the first day of class and looking out over the rows of seats. Even though the theatre was empty, I felt like I was walking back onto the basketball court before a big game. I felt like I belonged there. I guess Stella saw something in me that day too because she immediately started challenging me with scene work from playwrights such as Ntozake Shange, Lorraine Hansberry, James Weldon Johnson and August Wilson. I look back at that time and laugh now because back then, I had no idea who any of those people were!

The more acting I did, the more I wanted to do. I had been working in the technology field since graduating from college, but never felt happy or satisfied with what I was doing although the field paid well. Acting gave me a since of fulfillment and accomplishment, and I soon realized that acting was what I was meant to be doing in life. I began to think of ways to purse the acting career more and more without sacrificing time on my job, which was virtually impossible to do. Ironically, in 2003 the company I was working for began downsizing, and the same co-worker (who was now my supervisor) that talked me into acting in the first place, laid me off. He actually told me that he knew acting was where my heart was, and that I would never pursue it as long as I was working full-time. He was absolutely right. Being laid off was truly a blessing in disguise because it gave me the kick I needed to pursue acting full time... at the ripe old age of 30! I began taking all the acting classes I could and going on all of the auditions that I could. I started to study films and actors rather than just watching them. I made an oath to myself that acting from that point on would be my career, and began to approach every class, every audition, and every job with a seriousness and professionalism that I would have if I was working in a Fortune 500 company.

How are you approaching playing Vladimir? What are the challenges of acting Beckett?

Let me say first off that I am thrilled that Jeff Carr has decided to add ‘Waiting for Godot’ to Amun Ra Theatre’s 2010 season. I am very excited about taking on the role of Vladimir. This role is definitely going to be a challenge, and at the same time a huge learning experience for me. Anyone who has ever read the play knows that in its simplicity, it is a very complex piece. The characters are very much European, and the language and dialogue of the play is quite reflective of that. I have watched British shows before and was totally lost by the language and the quick paced back-and-forth banter of the characters. My goal as an African-American actor playing the role of Vladimir is to remain completely true to the European feel of the play, while at the same time giving the character a personality that can be related to by everyone who attends.

To me, the biggest challenge of this piece is being able to effectively communicate each and every little beat – and there are many. Thankfully, the play’s director, Robert Kiefer, is a wiz at working with actors and helping them find the little nuances that may have overlooked. Our very first rehearsal was several hours long, and we never made it past page three in the script! Mr. Kiefer is really allowing us to discover and create our own characters. I think that one of the most important elements of giving a believable performance is having a complete understanding of what is going on internally and externally with a character at any given time. Vladimir often changes his thoughts and emotions within a single paragraph or even a single sentence. Since there is no real rhyme or reason as to why the characters do what they do, each actor is given the creative license to determine the what’s, why’s and how’s of the moment. I believe the end result will be some really entertaining and believable performances of some really, really peculiar characters.

What are your thoughts on Nashville as a theatre town?

Nashville’s nickname may be ‘Music City’ but in my opinion, Nashville is very much a theatre town as well. On any given day you can peruse one of the local entertainment publications and get a listing of the many different shows currently being performed. Aside from the many great Broadway shows you can see at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center, there are numerous community theatre companies that showcase a broad range of locally talented performers in a diverse array of shows. As an African-American actor, I can’t express how fortunate I feel to have a number of local African-American theatre companies to work with. I’ve worked with SistaStyle Productions, BScott Productions, Destiny Theatre Experience, GeoSoul Productions, Collards & Caviar, Amun Ra Theatre, and there are so many more that I have not had the privilege of working with yet. I’ve also had the pleasure of working with other companies such as Act I, Actor’s Bridge and New Day Theatre, and have auditioned with People’s Branch, Nashville Children’s Theatre, and the Nashville Shakespeare Festival just to name a few. If you are in Nashville and you can’t find a theatre show to view, or even one to perform in if that’s your thing, then it’s just because you really aren’t looking.

Crossroads Genesis Fest this weekend (New Brunswick)

Please click post's title to visit Crossroad's website.

Sean O'Leary's VALUE-MART Now thru 28th (Pittsburgh)

We are in our final week of VALU-MART. We're asking that you please consider attending one of the final four performances. We have a great cast which has received great reviews.

"An immensely satisfying work of theater." - Ted Hoover, City Paper

"A skillful, engaging production of an audience-friendly play with substance." - Christopher Rawson, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

And they deserve a great house, so please click to reserve your great seats. Also this Thursday's performance is a buy one get one free night. We look forward to seeing you.... In the house!

Thanks,

Mark Clayton Southers
Producing Artistic Director

VALU-MART by Sean O'Leary (Guest Playwright)

Directed by Mark Clayton Southers
Now Through March 28th, 2010

VALU-MART, by Sean O'Leary (our guest playwright for this season), examines the art of self-preservation. A display case key has gone missing at a mass merchandise department store. Five employees are suspected of taking the key and are detained in a break room for questioning. Humiliated and fearful that they will all be fired if the key and the person responsible are not found, the five employees struggle to find a way out. Their struggle exposes the hopes, fears, aspirations, and resentments that arise from five very different lives.

Featuring:
Bill Dalzell
Tommy LaFitte
Susan McGregor-Laine
Kelly Marie McKenna
Rico Parker
Genna Styles

TICKETS

ADVANCE PURCHASE through ProArtsTickets:
In Advance: $17.50
At the Door: $22.50
Runs March 11th-28th, 2010
Thursday-Saturday 8 pm and Sunday 2 pm

ProArtsTickets hours:
10am - 5:30pm Monday - Friday
Noon - 5:30pm Saturday

Thank you for your patronage!

Pittsburgh Playwrights Theatre Company

Herb Newsome's REVENGE OF A KING 4/23 (Nashville)

Please click image to enlarge.

Revenge of the King by Herb Newsome is a hip hop version of Hamlet.
For more information, please contact:

Kimberley LaMarque

Director of Forensics, Associate Professor of Theatre

Tennessee State University

Department of Communication

3500 John A. Merritt Boulevard

P.O. Box 9537

Nashville, Tennessee 37209

t. 615-963-7491

f. 615-963-2137

email: klamarque@tnstate.edu

Call for Plays

I am forwarding an email from my friend Thomas Donnarumma, who runs the theatre program at Iona College. Please feel free to contact Tom with either one acts or scenes from full length plays which you might enjoy having his students workshop over the next year. I am particularly interested in having him look at any scripts which I have worked on or communicated about with you. Regarding scenes from full length plays, I am going to speak to him to see if he wants to read full scripts or if specific scenes should be selected and submitted individually.

Regarding Tom - he is one of the many young actors who worked for the national touring company which I managed from 1990 - 1997. In recent months, I have begun to re-establish communications with a number of these folks, many of whom are now artistic directors and producers in their own right. Hopefully this will open doors for AAPEX around the country - and since these guys all know one another from touring together, whatever gets in to the mix will enjoy a "buzz" within that network. In the meantime, I have been following Tom's work with great interest and have been very impressed with the wide variety of projects which have come from his corner and with the manner in which he is promoting the work done by his students at his department. It is in great contrast to many of the academic contacts I have, most of whom seem to want to keep what they are doing a secret! Anyone who has the opportunity to work with him should be amply rewarded.

If you do decide to contact Tom regarding your work, please keep me in the loop so that I can bring to his attention any developmental work we have done on the script in question and so that I can include a letter of recommendation with your submission.

Jaz

Hello Friends:

I am looking for playwrights that have unpublished one acts plays or scenes from full length plays that would like to have them work shopped at Iona College. I am looking to have about a 5 week rehearsal period followed by a staged reading. The staged reading will include a discussion and answer session after the reading. Playwrights that have published works, but are looking to rework them are also welcomed. The performances for these staged readings will occur during the first week of November and then in March. There is no pay for these readings or a fee for submitting and the staged readings will be performed by student actors. These readings will be rehearsed and performed at the college. If interested or you know anyone else who might be interested, please contact me at my email or at my phone number, 212 - 946 - 5576.

Sincerely yours,

Thomas Donnarumma

HARLEM IS...THEATER Film Premiere 3/30 (Harlem)

The Greater Harlem
Chamber of Commerce

Presents
BROADWAY AND BEYOND

Tuesday, March 30, 2010
6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
harlem is...Theater
Film Premiere

Directed by Oscar-nominated songwriter, Professor Jamal Joseph, "harlem is...THEATER" chronicles decades of Harlem's theater heritage and contemporary legacy keepers. The documentary compliments the current exhibit, harlem is...THEATER, which traces Harlem's theater movement from the founding of the African Grove Theatre in 1821 to Harlem's Black Arts Movement to the present.

Dwyer Cultural Center
258 St. Nicholas Avenue
(Entrance on W. 123rd Street b/w St. Nicholas Avenue & Frederick Douglass Avenue)
Take the A, B, C or D to 125th Street, walk south to 123rd Street and make a left.

For info and RSVP call 212-222-3060
or email info@dwyercc.org

Please click the post's title to visit the Dwyer Cultural Center website.

Red Harlem Readers

Call for 20-Min Plays/Musicals

Vacancy: SEEKING 20-Min Plays/Musicals! Employer: Name 'N Lights: Short 'N Sweet Duration: SHOWCASE: May 24th, starts SUBMISSION DEADLINE: April 1

Payment is on a lo/no/deferred basis. CALLING ALL THEATRE WRITERS IN THE NYC AREA! The Name 'N Lights Cabaret Series is accepting submissions for its first 20 minute play and musical showcase! Tyler Phillips Music and Ashley Monroe in association with Kamelrock Productions and Elysia Segal proudly present: Name 'N Lights: Short 'N Sweet The 20-Minute Play and Musical Showcase This highly anticipated evening of original theatre will feature cabaret style readings of three short theatrical pieces at the Laurie Beechman Theater - one of Manhattan's hottest cabaret venues. The Name 'N Lights Cabaret Series is dedicated to promoting the original work of theatre writers here in New York City and is itching to expand by inviting all theatre writers to submit to this quickly approaching showcase. The deadline for submissions is April 1, and the show is at 9:30 PM on Monday, May 24th, so DON'T JUST SIT THERE! See the schedule + guidelines below, then visit http://www.tylerphillipsmusic.com/shortnsweet.html to submit! The app is online - it only takes a minute to fill out and it's free to apply! Applications (and required files) must be received by April 1, 2010 in order for your piece to be considered as part of our program. All applicants will be notified by April 15, 2010. Auditions will be held the last week in April and rehearsals will begin the first week of May. GUIDELINES: - Running time must be between 12 - 20 minutes - Musical scores must be written for or reduced to one instrument - Adaptations of works by other authors will not be considered - All actors will be chosen from non equity auditions held the during last week in April. - The creative team must be available for at least three rehearsals after May 1 and prior to May 23 - There is no limit to the number of pieces you are allowed to submit. GO CRAZY! WHAT WE PROVIDE: - Music director - Accompanist - Director (upon the request of authors) - Rehearsal space (the creative team will work to devise an efficient rehearsal schedule upon acceptance) - An experience for authors to showcase their fabulous work at one of NYC's most exciting venues More Info: http://www.tylerphillipsmusic.com/shortnsweet.html

Apply to: Tyler Phillips

Dee Works Live! 1st Year Anniversary Party 3/20 (Montclair)

Please click image to enlarge.
Please click post's title to visit website.

Who is Klehotas Tshyre?

Klehotas Tshyre

He's an African-American playwright who does what AAPEX advocates for all playwrights: Get pro-active with your career. As the founder of the Spellbound Conservatory in Harlem, he is in essence producing his own work (see below from his Facebook page) which is prolific, sounds exciting and fun:

BLOOD ON THE STAGE FLOOR…? Bet It’s
Playwright Director
Klehotas Tshyre

If there’s blood on the stage floor, a pistol under the sofa cushion stage left and a body upstage fatally stabbed or better yet beheaded then chances are it’s a Klehotas Tshyre play presented by his very own Spellbound Conservatory (the production company that produces his work. ) Essentially a writer of black mystery melodrama and sci-fi fantasy plays the works of Tshyre is as bizarre as it gets.

A resident of the Harlem community Tshyre is A 31 year veteran of the American theater. His recent works include Chastity of Hearts, The Way Knights Fall, Gwendolyn’s Cellar, Lyonns in the Fire and Memories Don’t Die to name a few.

Actors in Tshyre’s plays must have high energy and a strong emotional apparatus. Often the plays are three acts with strong often lengthy dialogue, intense stage combat, including stunts (one woman was thrown down the steps in Chastity of Hearts), others characters are shot, stabbed, chopped up, burned, thrown out windows and get this…even eaten. But it’s not about the violence Tshyre’s says.

“It’s the social dilemma. We live in a pathological society. But there is another side to my dramas.”

To find out more about the works of Klehotas Tshyre visit his up and coming website (Soon to be announced). Until then, check out his reading of Land of Ivy this Saturday at 1:30 at the Countee Cullen branch of the New York Public Library (104 W 136th St). To visit his Facebook page, please click the post's title.

Klehotas Tshyre's LAND OF IVY 3/20 (NYC)

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN A YOUNG MAN REALIZES THE SOUL OF HIS DEAD GIRLFRIEND IS LOCKED WITHIN THE BODY OF ANOTHER WOMAN?

SPELLBOUND CONSERVATORY REP
PRESENTS A STAGE READING OF
THE MYSTICAL AND COMPELLING

LAND OF IVY

WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY
KLEHOTAS TSHYRE

SAT. MAR. 20, 2010 1:30 P.M.

THE COUNTEE CULLEN BRANCH
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY

104 WEST 136 ST
(BETWEEN MALCOLM X BLVD AND 7TH AVE. ADAM CLAYTON POWELL BLVD. )

DONATION: FREE TO THE PUBLIC

2010 Genesis Fest 3/26-28 (New Brunswick)

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WOODIE KING, JR celebration 3/28 (NYC)

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Please click the post's to visit the standard website.

Call for Plays (Deadline March 21)

SEVEN MORE DAYS TO SEND YOUR PLAY TO THE INKWELL!
We're counting down the days until the end of THE INKWELL'S OPEN CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS.

Send us your play BY MARCH 21st to be considered for a sustained, collaborative development process that will include dramaturgical support, staged readings, and more!

SUBMIT YOUR PLAY
BY MARCH 21st
at THE INKWELL'S WEBSITE
Please read all the instructions below.

The Inkwell is pleased to announced its SECOND NATIONAL CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS.

We encourage early-career playwrights to send their full-length plays to us to be considered for a sustained, collaborative development process that will include:

intensive dramaturgical support
opportunities to participate in master classes and workshops
mentoring and networking opportunities with other playwrights and playmakers
intensive rehearsals with actors, directors, and dramaturgs leading to staged readings
input from designers on how set, costume, sound, and other stage elements serve a play

As we work with playwrights over a period of a year to 18 months, we will choose a few plays for fully staged, bare bones Inkubator Productions. Playwrights we choose to collaborate with will receive modest stipends and some additional funds for travel.

THE INKWELL WILL ONLY ACCEPT PLAYS THAT MEET THE FOLLOWING REQUIREMENTS:
Plays that are full length. We will not consider any one-act plays.
Plays that have not received a full production. A full production includes any public event centering on the script that involved a director, actors, and design elements. The Inkwell considers staged readings and academic productions exceptions to this rule.
Plays that are submitted within the submission period of March 1st through March 21st.
We do accept original musicals. Make sure to read all the instructions for submitting your script and your score at THE INKWELL'S website.
Plays must be submitted as either Microsoft Word or PDF files. Playwrights may only submit one play.

To learn all about the play submission process, and to submit your play, please visit THE INKWELL'S WEBSITE.

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO READ ALL INSTRUCTIONS AND COMPLETE THE ONLINE SUBMISSIONS FORM.

And if you have questions, email us at submissions@ inkwelltheatre.org.

We look forward to reading your plays.

THE INKWELL is Washington, DC's resource for new play development
for playwrights. ..for playmakers.. .for playgoers.

For more information about THE INKWELL, please click the post's title.

Seeking Director and Actors (Cincinnati)

Nicole Kearney Productions will be presenting five (5) performances of "And Ya Don't Stop" a hip hop play by Nicole C. Kearney during the Cincinnati Fringe Festival (CFF). The CFF is June 1 - 12, 2010 in Cincinnati, Ohio. Nominal stipends will be paid for the project.

For consideration submit resumes/bio and headshots to nicolekearnyproductions@gmail.com. If you are interested in the role(s) of Supreme and Young Supreme ALSO SUBMIT a MP3/4 or video link demonstrating emcee (MC) skills. Auditions will be scheduled by appointment mid-March.

And Ya Don't Stop Synopsis:
And Ya Don't Stop a hip hop play finds a trio at the crossroads when they discover that a record label only wants one of them - Supreme, the emcee. Unknown to him the label plans to pervert his image. Embittered, under contract and estranged from his crew, Supreme unwillingly goes on a journey guided by the messenger and the four elements of hip hop to help him regain his self and return to his hip hop roots.

Characters

SUPREME Hip hop emcee, 20-30, African American male, must have emcee skills. Lead emcee for the Origin

DEEJAY D Hip hop Deejay, 20-30, African American female. Deejay for the Origin. Has been friends with Supreme since childhood. Also plays herself as young, teenage and young adult Deejay D.

LEVEL Hip hop Producer, 20-30, ethnicity open, preferred Latino, Asian or Caucasian. Producer for the Origin. Meets DJ D in college and is then introduced to Supreme

THOUGHT The Messenger of the elements of hip hop. Narrator and Hype man. Age and ethnicity open, male

DARIUS STONE Label A& R Executive for Stone Cold Records, 30's, African American male. Arrogant and "Shug Knight" (Death Row Records) type.

PAUL COHEN Agent, 30's, Caucasian male. Works for Stone Cold Records doing dirty deals with artists.

WRITER One of the first elements of hip hop, a spirit. Age and ethnicity open. Male

B-BOY One of the first elements of hip hop, a spirit. Age and ethnicity open. Male

DEEJAY Third element of hip hop. Age open, African American male.

EMCEE Fourth element of hip hop future. Age open, African American male.

1st FELLA Age and ethnicity open, male. Animated rhyme writer.

2nd FELLA Age and ethnicity open, male. Animated producer.

MR. STONE Owner of Stone Cold Records, 20-eary 30's, African American male. Younger brother of Darius Stone. Russell Simmons type.

YOUNG, SUPREME as a 10-12 year old, 16-17 year old TEENAGE & and a 18-20 something versions of himself.

YOUNG ADULT

Mary McCallum's THE "D" WORD 3/17-19 (NYC)

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Nashville playwright & AAPEX artist Mary McCallum is bringing her show THE D WORD to NYC.

Here is the show synopsis:

Can a person or a marriage really live up other’s expectations without exploding under the pressure? The “D” Word is a drama/comedy that delves into the subject of divorce by exploring a group of family and friends who are gathered for the 18^th wedding anniversary of Marshall and Mona. Mona and Marshall have a storybook life- Marshall is on the fast-track at a major law firm and Mona is a stay-at-home wife and mother. As the weekend unfolds, drama follows their recently divorced best friends, Jason and Justina, as well as visiting parents and friends. The anniversary celebration brings to light love, anger, past demons and reveals surprising secrets.

Casting Call

The National Black Theatre in association with Orisha Tales Rep Radio Theatre Co is seeking NON-UNION actors who dance, and /or move well to audition for the Yoruba Dance Drama, OSHUN (THE GODDESS OF LOVE).

Male and female roles available from ages 20 through 60. African Americans, Afro-Latinos and Afro-Asians welcome.

Male roles:

ELEGBA- The Orisha of the Cross roads, OGUN- The Orisha of Iron, IKU- The Orisha of Death, ORUNMILA- The Orisha of Divination, AGANJU- The Orisha of The Volcano, OCHOSSI- The Orisha of The Hunt, and various Farmers and Warriors

Female Roles:

AGEMO- The Chameleon, OYA- The Orisha of the Cemetery, YEMOJA- The Orisha of the Ocean. The AJE- The Witches, WOMEN WARRIORS, and TOWNSPEOPLE.

The production runs from April15, 2010 until May7, 2010.

Auditions are Monday March 15, 20210 from 4pm until 9pm at 2033 5th Ave bet 125 and 126th St

Bring headshot and resume and be prepared with a one minute monologue.

Bring or wear clothing that you can dance in.

For further information contact: Orishatales5@aol.com

Some Kind of Wonderful is Happening at Red Harlem Readers

If you haven't seen it, you might be interested in reading this article by Molly Sugarman in The West 102nd & 103rd Streets Block Association Newsletter about Red Harlem Readers. I thought it was a very good description of what we do, but more importantly what it's like to be in the audience. It's on p. 6 of the following link:

http://www.bloomingdale.org/Newsletters/102_103/Ban4001final.pdf

Warm regards,

Richard Gaffield

Co-Founder

Ted Lange's LET FREEDOM RING 3/14 (NYC)

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Red Harlem Readers

Stephanie Berry's THE LAST FALL tixs now on sale (New Brunswick)

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Please click post's title to visit website and to purchase tickets.

Call for Blaxploitation Scripts

Jetset Pictures - Blaxploitation Scripts

---------------

We are looking for contemporary blaxploitation scripts which can be broken down into (or already written as) a series of ten to fifteen minute shorts. Each episode/installment/sequence needs to end in a cliffhanger. Please note that we are only interested in contemporary blaxploitation material, not 70's era traditional "Superfly" type material.

Budget has yet to be determined. WGA and non-WGA writers may submit.

Our credits include "Off Madison," which was recently named an official selection of the Access TV Festival, and which was found through InkTip.

Source: InkTip.com (a fee based service)

Call for Plays from playwrights of color under 40 years old

Victory Gardens Theater announces the second IGNITION festival,
supported by Allstate Insurance Company, lead corporate sponsor, and
William and Orli Staley. The festival that brought you the
critically-acclaimed Year Zero by Michael Golamco and Kristoffer
Diaz's smash hit The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity is searching for
another round of breakthrough plays. IGNITION creates a pipeline to
production for the work of young playwrights of color. By providing
this platform for the next generation, IGNITION launches new writers
into the national spotlight and continues Victory Gardens' core
mission of originating new plays that serve diverse communities.

Six new plays will be presented in a festival of readings scheduled
for the week of August 15, 2010. These plays will be directed by
leading artists of color from Chicago and around the country.
Following the readings, two of the plays will be selected for
intensive workshops during Victory Gardens' 2010-11 season. Victory
Gardens will produce at least one of these final scripts in the
2011-12 season.

Victory Gardens provides selected playwrights with housing and
transportation as well as a stipend for a one rehearsal week beginning
August 15th through the final event of the festival weekend.

Victory Gardens Theater, founded in 1974, is the recipient of the 2001
Tony Award® for Regional Theater. For thirty-four years the theater's
mission has been to develop new plays for the American Theater.
Victory Gardens is a leader in its commitment to inclusion and
diversity. In 2008, IGNITION was supported by the Ford Foundation in
recognition of the theater's history of translating this core value
into mainstage productions by writers of color each season. The
theater has a 14 member Playwrights Ensemble whose membership also
reflects the diversity of the mission. Our home is the newly renovated
historic Biograph Theater, a 299 seat theater and a 109 seat studio
theater both with state of the art equipment.

For further information, please call literary manager Aaron Carter at
773-328-2142 or Sandy Shinner, Associate Artistic Director and Project
Director, at 773-549-5788 ext 2139.

Submission Deadline: April 15, 2010
Announcement of Six Festival Participants: June 15, 2010
Festival Dates: August 15 - August 22, 2010

Submission Guidelines:

    * There is no restriction as to subject matter. Victory Gardens
hopes that a diversity of perspective will inform the
plays, but the plays do not have to deal specifically with race,
ethnicity or identity issues.
    * The initiative is open to all playwrights of color under 40 years old.
    * Playwrights must not yet have received a full production at a
major regional theater.
    * Submitted plays must be unproduced and must be in English or
primarily in English.
    * Playwrights may only submit one full-length play.
    * Plays must be submitted by mail, not electronically, and should
not be permanently bound.
    * Please include a biography or resume.
    * Please include a return addressed postcard if you wish to be
notified that the script arrived.
    * All scripts will be recycled after reading and will not be returned.
    * There is no submission fee.

      Submit to: IGNITION
      Victory Gardens Theater
      2257 N. Lincoln Avenue
      Chicago, Illinois 60614 60614

Victory Gardens Theater | 773.549.5788